Wireless HTC Vive to be announced soon

HTC and Quark VR will soon announce an adapter for the HTC Vive that will allow it to be used untethered.

Any user of the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift will tell you that the cables tethering the headset to the PC can be annoying. You’re spinning around to shoot an enemy behind you and the cable wraps around your legs. Or you’re diving down to avoid being hit by enemy fire, and the cable tugs your head back. Fortunately, HTC and Quark VR are working on an adapter that will make the HTC Vive wireless.

Currently, the HTC Vive uses a long 3-in-1 cable that connects to a PC via a breakout box. The cable provides connections for HDMI, USB and power. With the HTC and Quark adapter, the headset cables will instead be connected to a portable unit, small enough to be put in a pocket, which will provide power for the headset, and transmit and receive USB and HDMI signals to and from the PC.

The challenge is reducing the latency. Fortunately, Quark said they are “extremely close” to reducing the lag to an acceptable level, ready for demo.

If they succeed, it could give the HTC Vive a decisive advantage over the Oculus Rift and Playstation VR, at least until the Rift and PSVR develop their own wireless solutions.

Theoretically, the technology from such an adapter could also be used for the Oculus Rift, although Quark may have an exclusive arrangement with HTC.